


EarthWalker

by Nonja24



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Multi, Season/Series 01, Skaikru, The Ark, grounders, in peace may you leave this shore, may we meet again
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 05:41:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14664456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nonja24/pseuds/Nonja24
Summary: It's been ninety-seven years since nuclear armageddon left the world barren of all life and what was left of humanity escaped to outer space, where they have strived on a station known as "the Ark", an empire of 12 nations that only now are beginning to experience problems that could annihilate human kind as they know it. The Ark's life support systems are critically failing, and the crew only have weeks to find an alternative solution to survive.The choice to send 100 of their criminal delinquents to Earth has befallen to Chancellor Thelonious Jaha, who sees this as a last hope attempt to find out whether the Earth is inhabitable or risk the death of all his people. Soon discover that not all is as it seems on Earth; it's not as empty of life as they were led to believe.In order to survive, the 100 must learn the rules of this new world or face the extinction of life as they know it.





	1. Three Hours Before

06.06.2018

 **chapter one |**   _three hours before_

 It started out as a the most usual, mundane day one could possibly expect on board a spaceship orbiting a radiation-soaked Earth, but today, he knew something was different when he woke up - alone. Usually, he would expect to find his father looming over him in the effort to rouse him from his sleep. 

 Alone was a dangerous thing to be on the Ark, because it meant that his father was busy handling matters that did not concern him, leaving him to his bitter thoughts in the cold confines of their room, alone to wandering thoughts and emotions that left him in a dangerously low mood. In space, everybody had to have someone they could talk too, someone to acknowledge their existence and give them reason to live, but he was the exception.

 Three hours ago, he was a normal boy, living a lonely life. He had no idea that when he woke up that very morning, unconsciously counting the hours until he could close his eyes and forget the existence of the very people who kept him breathing, that he would be staring into the solitude of a very brief life before his world would forever change. Had he known that, perhaps he would have tried a little harder to be  _alive._

 It had been almost a year since he fell into a stupor, where his mood had taken a superior dive fall into a torrent of emotions that nobody, not even himself, had control over. A huge part of himself had been ripped away because of the mundane living of everybody on board this ship; he had suffered in an unimaginable way when he watched his best friend being quietly escorted away on his fathers orders -

 He woke with the first thought:  _she's eighteen in a couple of weeks_ and that was all it took to make his stomach nauseous. Eighteen for a convicted child criminal was a deadly age because come that day, they would have to stand before the council and plead their case. Sometimes, the lesser crimes were forgiven and that child was sent back into the community to work out the rest of their days, but these days, it seemed as if all crimes, no matter the crime itself, was punishable by death. 

 In a couple of weeks, he would wake up one day and she would be  _gone._ If his father thought imprisoning her for the last year had ruined his boy, there was no telling what he would think when her death affected him more. Every day, the councilman's boy  _tried_ to maintain a standard of appearance for his father's sake and every moment was like walking on glass. He struggled to keep his head up high and it made him so  _tired._

He was a mere few days from his eighteenth birthday himself. The big day that he and his best friend had been discussing since they were kids. On their eighteenth birthday, they were classified as adults - they were seen as contributing members to the Ark and in return, they would have to decide their future.

 There were many career options available on the spaceship surprisingly. Children were taught by their parents from a young age in their career choice to keep it within the family, but she wanted to be an artist - a teacher for those who were left orphaned by the system.

 He wanted to be a doctor - a psychiatrist to help her make the Ark a better place to live, not just for themselves, but their children's children too. How it worked now was just barely liveable. Now that big day just seemed like a horrible thing to acknowledge. He woke every day, older and closer to his eighteenth birthday and still she was not there.

 That afternoon, he was hiding away in his room to avoid another tongue-lashing from his father about not showing up for lessons. He held his favourite book,  _The Hunchback of Notre Dame,_ and read every page for the millionth time to pass the time in the hopes that it would be time to close his eyes to another day before his father found out.

 It was just a normal day - it  _should_ have stayed a normal day. Had his father known that he was in his bedroom, curled up in the corner, reading his book, maybe he wouldn't have said anything. The door to their room slid open with a mechanical creak that made him cringe every time. Although he had begged his father to get it fixed, it was always pushed back when something far more important came to light. 

 The book quietly snapped closed as he prepared to hide himself, believing that his father had already been warned he was missing out on class and come to give him a good tongue-lashing for missing out on yet another class, but when the footsteps went for the other side of the room, towards where his father worked tirelessly when not needed on deck, he knew something was wrong.

 "Marcus." 

 Thatvoice belonged to Callie Cartwig, an officer in charge of handling public complaints and keeping the people of the Ark in line. Gabriel frowned, tucking his book under his backside for a moment as he edged his way to the end of the bed in order to climb safely off without alerting the company to his presence. 

 There was only one reason why Callie would be in their quarters during the middle of the day -

 "Are you sure we're doing the right thing?"

 "It's the only way," his father replied. 

 Fingers were fiddling with papers left on his desk, flicking through the notes and scribbles on various topics and handling of day-to-day life on board the Ark, unaware of his son eavesdropping on the conversation from his room. He had been on the main deck when he come to realise that his holoscreen had not taken some of the inputted data he had worked tirelessly to upload to the device the previous night.

 His jaw was tightly clenched as he searched,  "You know if we had any other choice, we would have exhausted it by now."

 "That's not what I'm talking about," said Callie. Her arms folded, defensive. "I don't think it's been handled right. It's going to affect alot of people -"

 "Don't you think I'm aware of that?" Marcus asked, shooting her a look. "I don't want to be the bad guy here. None of us do, but the decision is not mine to make. We are trying to save  _everybody."_

 "By sacrificing  _somebody,"_ said Callie. Before Marcus could even resent that statement, she raised her hand, "I completely agree with what we're doing, but I don't agree with who we're sending down."

 "If we had any other choice, this would be the _very_ last choice, but they made their decisions when they broke the law - now they have a chance to survive." He lowered his gaze, because the words felt like hot lead on his tongue, "Tell me who would want to do this willingly?"

 Callie remained silent. 

 "Exactly my point," he continued. "If _you_ wouldn't - why would anybody else?"

 "It seems a little rash to do it  _today,_ " Callie answered weakly. "I mean, what are we going to tell their families?" 

 "You'll figure something out," Marcus told her in confidence. 

 "Marcus," she growled. 

 He looked at her. "Until then, it's best everything remains between only those who need to know for everybody's safety."

 "Including Gabriel's?" 

 It was as if Callie had smacked him with those words, because everything suddenly went silent. An heavy atmosphere drowned them all as the seconds rolled on and not a word was said. When nothing was said for a couple of minutes, only the rustle of paper as Marcus continued to search for something on his desk, he became curious. A poor quality to have on a ship full of secrets that could get you killed, but he wanted to see with his own eyes just how serious this was. 

 As quietly as he could, he tiptoed across the metal floor to his door, sliding it open just an inch to get a view of both adults. He pretty much held his breath when he saw them both staring at each other as if they were ready to attack. They had been courting for several months now, and like every couple, they very much had their disagreements when it came to the way things were handled on the Ark, but usually they left their differences at the door to avoid being overheard. 

 Across the room, his father stood hunched over his desk, fingers eagerly rummaging through papers of importance. Most of them were scribbled notes of thoughts and reminders. The holoscreen tablets most soldiers and people of importance carried around with them maintained the greater notes and details of the day to day handling of the Ark, so when he watched his father shove a few things aside, including the holoscreen, he frowned. What was he looking for? 

 Marcus Kane was a man of average height and existence, though he stood above most others on board the ship, he was still an impressive man to look at. Someone who had worked his way up through the ranks since he was a boy himself, all the while raising a boy alone after the death of his wife. It was a fruitful task that had left his once warm, dark chocolate eyes void of much emotion. In his position, he had to make many decisions that often left him sleepless at night.

 Within his bedroom, Gabriel Kane danced from one foot to the other to ease out the pins and needles from standing in one place too long. He had far too much practice at eavesdropping on his father's conversations recently. Most of them, he lost interest in after a few minutes of listening in (or he was caught and forced back to class), but this one had him stumped. His brow furrowed as he tried to piece together what they were talking about. 

 It seemed to have them both riled. It had been a long time since he'd seen Callie out outrightly speak to his father as if he was beneath her. Certainly not intentional behaviour. The woman had done her best over the recent months not to push her way into the Kane's lives on his behalf, trying to ease herself into a situation that made them all comfortable. It was only last week that Callie learned Gabriel was even comfortable with her relationship to his father.

 She had come to care about him in a way that a childless woman would do in her situation. She knew she was nothing more than a fling to Kane, just someone to drape of his arm and show how important he was, but Gabriel had assured her that she was more than that. At least, that was what he was certain about.

 It took a lot of convincing, starting with the awareness that the teenage boy of her life did infact like her and then a long, stern talking to in order to help her realise that Marcus Kane didn't keep women around for months just to string them along. He was a proud man, who had worked to be where he was, who held himself in high regards for his treatment of the people. Nobody was an exception of that. He didn't  _use_ people.

 It was perhaps one of the only things Gabriel respected about his father. The man was a dutiful man, filled to the brim with priorities to the ship, it's people and himself as a councilman, but he was no pushover when it came to romance. Usually, he didn't enjoy the company of another at his side. He struggled with the concept of loving another person after the death of his first love and wife, but along came Callie and Gabriel had seen something light up in his father's eyes.

 Movement distracted the boy from his thoughts. 

 Running a hand through his dark locks, Marcus sighed under his breath, "He will understand why this has to be done  _today."_

"Don't treat him like everybody else," scolded Callie, disapprovingly. "His best friend is locked up in the Sky Box too. This last year has been hard on him."

 "I know," said Marcus in return. "Don't you think I know? I've had to keep him out of trouble more often than I like."

 "Have you at least talked to him about his behaviour?" she asked. 

 "I can't get him to sit down for five minutes to listen to what I have to say," he sighed.

 "You should tell him before the launch," Callie said to him quietly.

 Marcus dropped the papers in his hands to the desk, "He won't handle the news well either way I tell him - before or after."

 "Still, he may understand if it better if you tell him before," said Callie. "He may be just a boy and you might be trying to protect him, Marcus - but this will hurt either way."

 "I know."

 Callie Cartwig approached the desk with the most concerned look a woman could give a man, one that would be recognised as a compassionate plea for the father to understand that his way of life was not his sons. Her arms unfolded, realising why Marcus was so hesitant to tell his son the truth. It was not because he wanted the boy to be safe - it was  _far_ more than that. 

 His son's ongoing battle with depression and anger towards the man that had locked away his best friend was constantly on his mind, which made the decision today that much harder. If it failed - if  _they_ failed - Marcus would spend the remainder of his days with a son that would very much hate his soul for getting his best friend killed. It was a difficult thing to consider: the sake of his son's sanity or the lives of everybody on board the ship. 

 Callie's hands fell onto the papers Marcus was nervously shuffling through upon the distracting thought. Though it took a few seconds for him to realise the weight on his palms, Marcus looked up at her, staring into those dark pools of concern with wearisome eyes only a father could bare when faced with such an impossible decision; one he was making with his head, rather than his heart. 

 She knew both father and son were so far from similar, that the boy acted more and more like his late mother every day, which made looking at him sometimes hard, but Marcus cared more about his son than anything else and he had done so much to give the boy everything he did not have in his own life.  They were doing this so Gabriel could have a future, so if that future meant sacrificing the love of a son, he was willing to do it.

 "It's not your fault," Callie reminded him gently. "If this works, if Earth is really inhabitable, you will have all the time to make up for this last year. He will understand."

 "And if it doesn't work -" he replied. 

 "You will figure something out," she interrupted.

 Marcus pulled back his hands, rubbing his brow tiredly. "They're amending a few things to the bracelets programming. We'll be able to start within the hour."

 "Marcus," she pressed. 

 "I'll tell him," Marcus promised. He seemed withdrawn from the idea, until he caught her eye. "I'll tell him."

 "Good," said Callie. 

 "He's eighteen in a few days," murmured Marcus. 

 Unaware that his son was watching, frowning from his room, Marcus glanced towards his bedroom door, as if he knew his boy was standing there. Had he truly known, perhaps he would have stopped talking. Instead, as he looked away, chocolate orbs caught sight of the picture frame on his desk. The conversation of his boy brought up troublesome memories of the recent year and he thought to himself about the very woman who would have had all the right answers for the situation at hand.

 Lifting the frame up, Marcus looked at one of the images tucked behind the glass. The beautiful woman who had given life to a part of themselves. She would have known how to tell their son the damaging news and how to handle the outcome of such a devastating blow. She would have consoled him in a way that Marcus found troubling to do. If only she were alive to help him now, he would know what to say to his son to make him understand what had to happen. 

 When he looked at her now, that charming smile so infectious that even he felt his lips twitching, and those bright emerald orbs which long ago had avoided eye contact with him at all costs to avoid the flutter of butterflies, he could only see his son. The image beside her almost identical in appearance; those big, bright emerald eyes and thick, dark locks. He had taken the best parts of his father's appearance, but he had his mother's eyes.

 If only she could see him now -

 A knock at the door brought Marcus back, forcing him to put down the frame as the door opened without consent and in walked a familiar face, looking rather troubled as he dropped his hand from his frizzy hair to a held holoscreen, flicking through the data archived on the glass. Eventually, he looked up as if he wanted to say something important, his mouth parted to make Marcus aware when he noticed that he was already in the company of another and suddenly, he looked uncertain of his being there. 

 "I'm sorry," the man started. 

 "It's alright, Sinclair," Marcus interrupted him. "What is it?" 

 "The bracelets are all calculated now to work as they're expected too," said Sinclair. He approached the desk and handed over his holoscreen to show Marcus the results of the tests. "I'd give it half an hour before they're all operational and we can begin the process."

 "Then we have half an hour to make sure  _every_ thingis in order," said Marcus. "I don't want any mishaps. This needs to go according to plan. Understood?"

 "Yes, sir."

 "Is everything else taken care of?"

 "We have prepared mild dosages of tranquillisers for those that are a little more troublesome," said Sinclair, "even with limited stock, we should be able to board the hundred within the hour. The engineers are working the last few changes to the drop ship."

 "Good." Marcus looked to his watch and then back at the Chief Engineer, who seemed a little less eager to proceed explaining the situation in their additional company. "The probability of this working?"

 "With the changes made to the drop ship," said Sinclair, "and everything we have installed in order to help them if they reach the ground - if Earth is inhabitable - this will work. We should know whether or not there are any side effects within the hour of their landing."

 "You shouldn't worry," Callie said to Marcus.

 "We've run every possibly scenario, sir," agreed Sinclair. "The last thing to do is send them to Earth - and hope for the best."

 "How long will it buy us if it doesn't work?" asked Marcus. 

 Sinclair looked nervous, "About a month."

 "How long will it take to fix the system?" he pressed. 

 "About six," came the reply. It was still not enough time.

 "Alright," said Marcus. He let out a deep sigh, rubbing his brow. "I want everyone of those kids on the drop ship within the hour. I want the system fully operational and everything double checked before we launch them -"

  ** _B a n g!_**

 The noise was not what made them jump at first. Most of the mechanical doors had been disabled to freely roll back and forth by hand-will after fire-damage a long time ago had short-circuited the mechanisms of several doorway systems. Hearing the metal door forced open and slammed fully wide drew them to look for the source of the noise. The bedroom door was exposing an empty room, a messy bed and a discarded book on the floor out of horror for what had been heard -

 Just before any of them could do anything, someone shot from the room like a cheater, out of the open quarter door before they could stop him. His footsteps pounded up the corridor as he fled from their capture, carrying the burden of their knowledge, their intentions with the children of the Ark imprisoned in the Sky Box - his friends. They were sending them to Earth - uninhabitable, radiation-ridden Earth -

 They would all  _die._

As Gabriel fled the confines of his father's quarters, carrying that knowledge with him, it was Sinclair who moved first, turning to Marcus, "Who was that?"

 "Gabriel," whispered Marcus, but not in response to the question. His gaze flickered to Callie, almost accusingly, "You told me he was at class."

 "I - I -" she stumbled over her words, until she corrected herself in haste, "He was! I walked him there myself."

 "He didn't know?" asked Sinclair, frowning.

 Only a small handful of people were aware of the reason behind the imprisonment of Gabriel's friend; she was included in the charges of treason against the people of the Ark when her father had been taken in for threats against the peace and floated only a few hours later. Because she was under eighteen, they had been forced to place her into solitary confinement, even though they were uncertain she was aware of  _why._

 They couldn't risk the exposure of the truth. It was the sole reason why  _today_ was important. It took Marcus a moment to realise what had happened, before he stepped back. His hands were shaking, something he didn't immediately realise until a piece of paper he held in his hands was rattling in fear. Any crime, regardless of the crime, was punishable - this knowledge in the hands of his son, unknowing as to whom he would tell had Marcus panicked. 

 They had locked children away for less. 

 Suddenly, he indicated to Sinclair, "Head back to the command centre.  _Don't_ say a word to anybody about my son, understood?"

 "But he -" as the engineer turned around to confront his councilman, he saw the glare warning him not to say another word. He nodded quickly, "Right away, sir."

 "Go." As Sinclair pivoted on his heel and made his way for the door, Marcus began shoving his papers back into the drawer, "Dammit, Gabriel . . .!"

 "Marcus . . ." Callie said uncertainly, watching the man in his panicked haste. "What are you going to do?"

 "I don't know!" he snapped at her. 

 His glare made her tremble. It wasn't rage - it was fear because he knew if this got out before they had the chance to do what needed to be done, his son would be executed on special circumstances within hours. Regardless of his age, the council would see it as he was eighteen in a couple of days time. It was no skin of their back if they made the boy an example to the people to obey the rules so they all could live in peace. 

 Gabriel had been reckless over the past year, minor offences that most had washed to the side as the grief of a boy who had lost his best friend, a young woman he considered to be more like a sister than a friend. Although grief was never a good reason for behaviour problems, Gabriel was given punishable work to amend his manners and tame his behaviour for a couple of weeks, but this was something Marcus could not protect him from if he told  _a single soul._

"We better find him first," Marcus calmed himself down as best he could. A deep breath and he rubbed a hand through his hair, "Get a handful of guards on the situation - keep it quiet until he is found, understood?" 

 "Okay," said Callie. "I'll find Abby." When Marcus looked at her, she flinched, "Maybe he's gone to her to make sense of it all. He trusts her."

 "Just find him," Marcus ordered, "bring him back here when you do and don't let him out of your sights."

 "Understood," replied Callie, making her way for the door. 

 Chocolate browns followed her calmly, trying his best to maintain a state or professionalism given the situation. He wanted Callie out of his sights before he moved, knowing the woman would not approve that he would consider such a hasty act in regards to the capture and containment of his son. It was not for the safety of the mission, however, but that of Gabriel. He knew what kind of trouble his son would get into for overhearing the conversation, let alone telling anybody about it. 

 As soon as Callie was out of earshot, Marcus pulled open his drawer and plucked out a walkie talkie specially designed to communicate with all guard-personnel on the ship. For a moment, the device felt like a brick in his hand, and nothing more than a quick way to find his boy. He bit his tongue as he thumb and forefinger switched the device on. The static noise made him cringe, but he knew he had no other choice. 

 Hesitantly pressed the intercom, "Listen carefully . . ."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- EarthWalker -  
> authors note | 08.06.2018
> 
> So in the beginning of writing this chapter, I realised before too long that it was almost 6k words, which in my opinion, is an appropriate amount of words for a chapter - however, I was not yet done with the chapter, so I've had to split it into two parts. This is the first time I've worked on EarthWalker since last year (on Wattpad, at least). 
> 
> After some deliberation and the re-watching of season two, I decided I wanted to add in another character. I've been doing that a lot recently with my fanfictions, adding in more than one character, so I thought why not here. I'm going to need too. So, voila. Gabriel Kane was born. 
> 
> I don't like the way this chapter turned out, but I shall have to live with it.


	2. Rules

16.06.2018

**chapter two | __**_rules_

 He was running, his chest tight from the weight of the truth that now fuelled his charge through the metal containment of his home. With no sense of direction, Gabriel could do nothing but run as fast as his legs would carry him away from the people plotting to do worse than murder  _children._ There was policy, there was regulation - there were rules! The thought of what they planned on doing made him. 

 Now - now everything made sense to him. His father had been kinder to him than normal, the man had treated him like he was no longer a boy who didn't understand adult politics and rules. He was buttering him up to make this a lot easier to explain. He thought that telling his son the plan to send a few dozen, child-criminals to the ground would jeopardise their plan and for once,  _he had been right._  

  The metal tunnel seemed never ending as Gabriel ran. The words repeated, over and over again.  _I want everyone of those kids on the dropship._ He wasn't just talking about floating them, he was talking about a far more horrendous act of murder. His father was going to kill everybody in the Sky Box, including his best friend and the only thing Gabriel could do was run. 

 People blurred by, moving out of his way when they realised he wasn't going to stop just because they were  _there._ He wasn't prepared to stop the momentum he had as time worked against him. Some called out after him, trying to understand why he was running so fast and without care or the concern of safety for anybody else. As long as he put distance between himself and his father, Gabriel wouldn't stop. 

 After a few minutes, however, he found the adrenaline had kicked him down a notch. His pace tried to even out as he jogged through the metal halls, trying to find his way; a sign to help him, a familiar area that would tell him where he was. He didn't realise why his cheeks were warm or why his heart beat painfully, but his legs didn't stop carrying him through the hallway. 

 As things started to become familiar, Gabriel didn't see someone stepping out of one of the janitor closets nearby until they were both on the ground. He felt his skull hit the metal floor as he tumbled, tangled in the limbs of the human obstacle desperately trying to push him off. The struggle ensured for a few seconds until Gabriel was able to get onto his hands and knees, and crawl away -

 - And then he was on his feet, as his collision-victim gripped tight to the lapels of his jacket and slammed him against the wall. Gabriel reacted immediately, seizing the wrists of his captor with a slight grunt at how hard it was to breathe. His mind was foggy with the overflow of emotions, his thoughts struggling to stay in a constructive, understanding line and his sense of direction thrown by the wild look of desperation in his eyes  r egistering warm, brown orbs that seemed to recognise him. 

 He barely made out freckles along his nose and cheeks and a mop of dark hair.

 "Be -"Gabriel gasped quietly, only to be silenced as he was tossed to the side angrily.

 "Watch where you're going," the other snapped.

 The stumble almost cost him another face-meet with the floor as his legs struggled to hold his weight. He was shaking, terribly; the adrenaline surge had left his muscles cramping in various areas, making it hard to concentrate the brain on just one thing. Still, he somehow managed to grab onto something to steady himself as he tried to regain his composure before the other saw him as an easy target. 

 "I have to w-warn her," he breathed.

 The janitor looked at him, his brow creased in uncertainty as he overheard the boy's mumbling, "What?"

 "I need to warn her."

 "Hey, wait -!"

 By the time the janitor realised that Gabriel was in no fit state to be running around in a mumbling, disorientated condition, it was too late to stop him. He looked at the spot the boy had been and then where he was, alerted by the pounding of footsteps along the metal as they fled away from the scene of the equipment scattered all over the floor, lest asunder after their collision. 

 The janitor stood there, his hand clamped over his mouth as he tried to figure out what to do. It wasn't his duty to run after the privilege. They'd cost him too much to even care what happened to the boy, but what made it personal was that once upon a time, they had been friends. His mind flicked with memories briefly until he shoved them aside, angry at himself for a moment of weakness. 

 It was not his problem . . . right? 

 Suddenly, as the footsteps got distance and he could barely hear them, he realised that the mess caused before him was because Gabriel Kane was recklessly unaware of where he was going. He was in no fit condition to know exactly what he wanted and where he was running too and people could get hurt in his ridiculous ramblings. If it were discovered he could have done something to prevent potential endangerment to life and didn't do it, he would land himself in a lot of trouble. 

 The privileged had never done a  _thing_ for him -. 

 "Shit," he cussed under his breath, promptly turning the other way.

[  **pilot** ]

Gabriel recognised where he was, he recognised where his panicked mind was trying to take him before the thoughts had caught up. He was already gone and running again - as fast as his aching body would allow him too until he reached a corridor system that only recognised personnel were allowed to venture down too. 

 Gabriel paced himself to a steady walk as he navigated his way through the small system of corridors. The deck was off limits to most personnel; he knew he was not allowed unless it was visiting day, the time he had to convince the guard on duty that he had permission to see someone from solitary confinement, but it was important now that he ignore the rules and try. Everybody else seemed to be doing the same thing.

 In order to get past the guard on duty, past the visitor lounge and into the Sky Box, he would have to lie about his reasoning of being down there. Communications worked on a different frequency on the level for the reasoning of handling prisoners, both dangerous and not. If his father was already radioing the guard to bring him back safely and without conversation to anybody else as to what he heard, then the safest place to be was the one place his father would not think to look. 

 Straightening his jacket as he finally came to a sensible walk, Gabriel paused at the tip of the corridor and carefully peaked around the bend. He could see the small open area where those visiting their children would wait to sign in and a single guard standing at a door that operated on a different system to the rest of the Ark's mainframe for security reasons. 

 Luckily for Gabriel - it was someone he knew and trusted. 

 Stepping out into view, he approached with a charming smile, "Hey, Nicholas."

 "Gabriel," came the uncertain reply, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?"

 Narrowed, dark orbs looked at him through a set of thickly-rimmed glasses. A thick tussle of blonde hair was neatly combed back for a rather authoritative look, which was only made slightly more threatening by the proud guard-regulated uniform that had been handed down the last three generations. His arms were tucked behind his back, like a soldier standing to attention, until he realised who was standing before him and a sort of normalcy took over his appearance. 

 Over the course of the year, Gabriel had taken up top spot for troublesome teens on board the Ark. Although truancy was his greatest crime, Nicholas had eventually been selected by Marcus Kane as a babysitter for his son, to keep the boy out of trouble whenever he was on lesser duties.  Gabriel's antics and misbehaviour over the last year had given Nicholas insight to how the Kane family worked, and more importantly, how the boy looked at his absent father who was too focused on his duties as a councilman rather than nurturing a boy who had turned elsewhere for a family. 

 After gaining the trust of the youth, Nicholas had become someone Gabriel relied on to turn too in his hour of need, whenever that may be. Although some days, it came with the challenge of settling the boys mood and maintaining a constant knowledge of his whereabouts to keep him out of trouble, other days, it was most rewarding to have Gabriel reward him with that trust.

 "Well?" he pressed. 

 " I know," said Gabriel, his head dipping in the scorned-puppy kind of way. "I'm just having a bad day - I just wanted to see if I could see -"

 "You know I can't let you see her," interrupted Nicholas. 

 Emeralds shot up to him, almost frustrated. "How did you -?"

 "Every other week you ask, kid, and every time I tell you the same thing." He almost looked bored of the repetitive conversation. "She's in solitary. _Solitary_  does not get visits."

 "Nicholas -"

 " Those are the rules."

 "Please!" insisted Gabriel, stepping closer. 

 "Gabriel!"

 "It's important. I have to talk to her."

 "I can't," said Nicholas. When he saw those emeralds drop down, he mistook it for a familiar sadness the boy often had after being declined such a request. "Maybe, I can ask your father -"

 "No," the boy interrupted sharply, panicked. He had his hands raised in defence - "I mean, I don't want to bother him with this, you know?"

 Nicholas inclined his head, "Come on, kid, I'll walk you back."

 "Please." A frown etched to the guards features as Gabriel stepped away from him, as if afraid of being touched. There remained a silence before the boy added, " I really need to see her. Just for a few minutes - I swear, I'll be quick."

 "Gabriel," Nicholas sighed. He adjusted himself just a little bit closer to the boy, not to touch, but to show he understood how frustrating it was. "You know I can't. What's gotten into you, huh?"

 "Nothing," he said quickly. 

 "Then why are you acting like  _this?"_ he asked. 

 "It's just -" Gabriel started. He had to lie, he had to think quickly of a lie, "- she's eighteen soon. You know how long we planned our birthday, right?"

 "I know," answered Nicholas.

 "I just want her to know that she's still got me." Gabriel looked up at him, as those dark orbs scoured him from head to toe as if trying to understand what was going through his head. "She's been alone for a year - and I just want to make sure she's alright."

 The silence following those words was daunting. Gabriel was sure that Nicholas would be able to hear the beat of his lying heart as the seconds went on and not a word was said between them. It was like waiting for the inevitable answer. A long shot to think a high-ranking officer such as the man before him would look down on him in pity and dare break the rules of solitary confinement of a prisoner purely because one boy was feeling guilty. 

There were rules for a reason. Even someone like Nicholas knew that disobeying even a simple rule could result in his death. It was not something Gabriel wanted to bring upon his friend. Nicholas had helped him out in more ways than anybody would ever understand, despite how difficult he'd been over the course of the year, the father had been there to guide him through his troubled times.

 Staring at the thick, metal sheets sealed closed between him and his friend, Gabriel realised in that moment that he was willing to bring down anybody with him if it meant that he could see her just one time, to let her know what the adults planned on doing with them all. What would he do? His mind was all over the place, thoughts scrambled through his head as he tried to settle his nerves . . . He just had to get to her. 

 "I'm sorry -" Nicholas started. He indicated the corridor, "- Come on, I'll walk you back." 

 Gabriel felt his heart sink. The pain of it weighed him down as Nicholas pressed a comforting hand to the centre of his back and with a slight bit of force, pushed him towards the hallway. His feet felt heavy as he moved, uncertain with his friend. He didn't dare look back over his shoulder. He couldn't bring himself to think that he had failed her again.

 Although Gabriel knew he couldn't do anything to stop this from happening, he thought for at least one second, he would give her a friendly face to remember as she descended to her death. The further he moved away from the door, the darker those thoughts became. What if he couldn't tell her? What if she somehow survived and found out he knew? He balled his hands at his sides, trying his best to keep his composure for Nicholas' sake. 

 And then he noticed the guards key card.

 Every guard was required to have _that_  specialised key that registered a unique code that changed every day to open up the door to the Sky Box. There it sat, hanging from Nicholas' belt, dangling there as if to say  _take me._ Everything was suddenly on fire, every nerve burned with the dangerous thoughts telling him to take his chances; Nicholas could not go down for failing to stop the distraught boy from doing what had to be done -

 

 "Hey!"

 Gabriel inwardly cursed as he looked up to see two guards walking towards them. Many of the guards were required to patrol in partners, for their own safety as well as that of the people of the Ark. Over the last few years, violence against guards had increased, enforcing the new rule and neither looked very happy to see that Nicholas was standing beside Gabriel. 

 The closer they got, the more Gabriel realised that the look they carried on their faces was not rule-abiding frustrating that an underage was standing in an area he should not be in, but  _triumphant_ that they had found the missing target not too long after he had fled the family unit. They were not here for the prisoners, they were here for  _him._

 Gabriel felt his feet cement to the floor as the guards approached, ignoring Nicholas' demands to know exactly what was going on. He never expected so many visitors in one day, it was confusing for him. The look on the elders face was quite infuriated with the clear dismissal of his authority, the approach of the soldiers with no obligation to speak of their commands all but irritating him. 

 It was only when they were near within arms reach that Gabriel took a step back, his breathing hastened as he realised that his father had instructed the guard to collect and contain him. It was the safest way to keep his son from joining those in the Sky Box while being allowed to handle the consequence of his misbehaviour himself. So he had to choose what he would do - and he had to do it quickly. 

 "I'm sorry." 

Nicholas didn't realise what was happening until the boy had seized the key card from his belt and shoved his friend back into the wall to disorientate the situation. The alarm of the guards voices following after him was loud, but not deterring, as he pivoted on his heel and bolted for the door, only a few steps ahead of them. A few steps was all that he needed.

 The key-panel chimed into live as he dragged his fingers across the screen, pressing the key card down until it registered the chip. The doors groaned open. Everything on the ship was nearly a hundred years old and no matter how much oil they used or how many repairs they attempted, every door on the ship had a unique groan of life as it was opened or closed. The sound of the whine, like a low, muffled whimper sent chills through his spine as the doors creaked open.

 Before they were even fully apart, Gabriel squeezed himself through the gap just before one of the guards could seize him by the jacket. He could feel the breeze of fingers just miss grabbing hold of his wrist to stop him before he was running down the small, connecting corridor into the visiting lounge. 

 "Gabriel, stop!" ordered one of the guards. 

 Stop? It seemed like a foreign word to him as he dodged the tables and chairs in his way to get to the second door that would take him into the connecting corridor leading to the layers of cells containing underage criminals - and his friend. If he could get through that door, he knew his way to solitary like the back of his hand. It was sad to think that he only knew the way because his father had taught him from a very young age that the Sky Box was the place where naughty children were sent if they misbehaved.

 The momentum of his charge didn't give him enough time to pause and slow his stride, his mind in a hasty flux of thought and emotion to register that he was closer than he perceived until his body collided with the door. After a brief moment of pain though the muscle and bone of his shoulder, he looked frantically around the outer edge until he could see the card panel poking just out of the wall beside him. 

 Gabriel reached up and that was his mistake.  Just before he could press the key card to the panel, he felt the air knocked from his lungs as arms seized him around the waist and yanked him off his feet, pivoting him around in the air as if they were in the middle of a dance. The tight hold was crushing, determined to keep him immobilised as he struggled immediately in the hold of the guard who had caught him first.

 "Get off me!" he roared angrily.

 On board the Ark, violence was not tolerated against another human being; any who abused or caused harm to another human being was imprisoned and classified as a danger to society. It was one of the few rules that maintained a peace and equality amongst the kind. However, at at young age, Gabriel had discovered that sometimes, violence was necessary in order to solve problems involving bullies. 

 At the time, his best friend, Freddy Carmichael had been someone very close to him; they grew up together after becoming good friends in class.  For thirteen long years, they were friends and never did Gabriel suspect Freddy was being abused by some of those that sat in the very same class as them until he took his own life and those that had driven Freddy to that point, mocked him. 

 It eventually turned up that every day, when the boys separated for home time, and Freddy returned to the less-than-privileged on the other deck, he was tormented and beaten for having a friend like Gabriel Kane. It took one day, overhearing a small group of boys who had been tormenting his friend and abusing another one of their classmates, that Gabriel snapped and beat all four into medical with various degrees of injury.

 Fortunately, at the time, it was tucked under the rug. The boys were delinquents who had no parents and were looked after by the family unit up on ninth station. His father was able to twist it into self-defence. Two years had passed since then, and Gabriel now wriggled captured in the arms of a guard determined to return him to his lying bastard of a father - and he was supposed to go quietly?

 Never before would Gabriel have tolerated violence against a guard of the Ark. Some good people worked on the guard to protect the people on board the ship, and they dealt with a lot of abuse and saw a lot of suffering that many others did not have the heart to acknowledge every day. He would never raise a hand against them, no matter how much he disagreed with what orders they were carrying out, but today was a day that Gabriel just didn't see sense and perhaps that was his  _only_ mistake. 

 Everything seemed to happen so quickly. He felt as if he were struggling to breathe under water as everything fogged over. The disorientated boy didn't realise hew as on his feet again until he was practically shoved away from his capture who seemed to be  _howling_ in pain. As the distanced settled and Gabriel slowly turned to look at what the noise was deafening him, he realised what had happened and his stomach churned. 

 The guard was hunched over nearby, cradling his nose between his fingers to try and stop the bleeding, but as he pinched the bridge in a blurred panic, he only caused himself an unimaginable pain. He braced his body against the wall to try and recalculate the minds acceptance of the fresh, hot agony burning his face, making his eyes water. He was calling something out, though it was garbled by the break and the flow of crimson falling over his mouth.

 The other guard was in a tangle of limbs and tumbled metal on the flood just nearby after crashing against one of the tables that had absorbed her collision, but sent her bouncing to the floor instead, taking down one of the chairs with her. Instead of nursing her nose, she was cradling her jaw, disorientated. All sense had been knocked from her the second the youth had kicked out to keep her from nearing him. It had not been a precise attack, deliberate to show them harm -

Suddenly, he felt queasy as if he already realised what had happened. He registered the new sensations first. The lack of breath, the numbness of his elbow, the slight tingling sensation in his right foot. He could feel the sharp edge of the key card in his hand, but something felt wrong. The sounds distracted him. Loud, obnoxious cries that would have alerted the entire ship had they been anywhere near main deck. 

 With his attention focused entirely on the guard on the floor, Gabriel didn't realise the first guard was coming up behind him until his wrist was seized and his arm was twisted up his back. The boy jerked in agony as the position of the embrace allowed the guard to force him down to his knees.  It took him all of two seconds to have the boy wrestled down on his stomach, tugging both arms behind his back in order to restrain him.

 With his wrists promptly zip-tied, Gabriel realised it was hard to breathe. The weight on his back to maintain him firmly on the ground made him retaliate. The harder he tried to breathe, the less he realised he was in the midst of a panic attack; his heart was racing, his mind clouded by fear and frustration - they just had to let him see her. That's all they had to do! Why couldn't they just let him find out if she was alright? 

 Blood roared in his ears, making it hard to hear what was being said. He could feel the vibrations of conversation, far louder than it had to be, circle him, but it wasn't until he felt the pin-point blow of a steel-cap toed boot impact his ribs that he realised they were yelling - that  _he_ was yelling. Suddenly breathing became a lot harder, but the weight on his back was gone the second another blow landed against his shoulder, grinding against bone. 

 Then blow after blow until  Gabriel was on his back, his jaw seized by the bloody brunette who looked just about ready to kill him. "You little shit -!" she wheezed. 

 "Pauline!" 

 Gabriel could barely hear the voice of his saviour as he rasped for air, but he was thankful nonetheless when the guard was wrenched away from him by her partner upon Nicholas' hasty arrival. He looked flustered, confused and over all irritated by how the situation had been handled; the sight of Gabriel laying there, bloody himself and the injured officers painted a picture he just couldn't decipher. 

 Everything hurt, even the pinch of her fingers as she tried to maintain her hold of the boy that had bested her unexpectedly.  It was an insult to her uniform that she had been attacked so brutally and without reason, and no less by the boy of Marcus Kane. Gabriel whimpered as she fought to maintain that hold, until finally, her partner was able to pull her back from him, by seizing her wrist in a grip solid enough to break her concentration.

 Pauline Stark was mortified she had allowed it to happen.  Her nails dug into his flesh until she was pulled away, leaving Gabriel laying there, wheezing on the floor.  Despite her struggling to subdue him, she recognised the authoritative snap of a commanding guard and quickly settled down as Nicholas approached with a firm step between them all. She could see on his face that he wasn't sure what to make of the situation. 

 "Sir," they rasped together.

 Nicholas held his chin high, " I suggest you both get yourselves to medical. I'll handle the boy."

 "Councillor Kane needs to be made aware of this," stated the other guard. He wheezed, his words garbled by the flow of crimson still invading his mouth as he spoke. "He has just attacked us -"

 "Sebastian," interrupted Nicholas, his voice so sharp that it would make anybody under the scrutiny glare of his gaze flinch, "take yourself and your partner to medical. And while you're both there, I want you to send Dr. Griffin to me - understood?"

 "But -" hissed Pauline. 

 "I said:  _understood?"_ Nicholas snapped.

 Neither said a word, they didn't have too because it was not the appropriate time to dismiss the hierarchy of the guard's position beyond themselves. Instead, they promptly righted themselves and nodded before one grabbed the other and they began shuffling their way out of the visitors lounge with their tails between their legs. Not a single word was said as they disappeared through the connecting corridor, trailing to medical. 

 Slowly, Nicholas turned after they were out of view down to look at the boy, "Gabriel -"

 He silenced himself when he realised the boy wasn't even with the world of the conscious ones. What was once authoritative and disappointment quickly turned into concern; in the manner of the situation, regardless of who had attacked who, if Gabriel's injuries were far greater than the guard who had assaulted him, Pauline would find herself not only imprisoned, but promptly executed for misconduct and attempted murder. 

 Swooping down, Nicholas immediately pressed his fingers to the boy's throat, searching for a pulse, "Come on, boy."

 When he found one, relief washed over him. At one stage in his life, Nicholas had been in medical but after a couple of years, had decided that it was not for him. He checked the boys airways and then from his neck, down to his stomach where he found that a rib was cracked from the first blow and his abdomen would flare with a bruising from the second, but there was no immediate cause for concern upon examination. 

 At this point, Nicholas realised he couldn't carry Gabriel to medical under his duty as an officer to arrest the unconscious youth for his actions against the guard, regardless of the state of duress he was under at the time. His jaw tightened upon his duty as an upholder of the laws of the Ark and his duty as a friend to the boy laying unconscious on the floor before him.

 Tucking a few strands of dishevelled hair from his forehead, Nicholas sighed, "What have you done, kid?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -EarthWalker-  
> authors note | 16.06.2018
> 
> Apologies for the lack of updates recently. I've been terribly distracted by an abundance of bad moods lately and it messes with my desire to write anything of greatness. So I finally got this chapter out, but I'm going to do a little bit of messing around as I've decided something that will make a lot more sense. SO - you can await that as I tend to the third chapter of this sometime next week :D

**Author's Note:**

> \- the 100 -  
> authors note |  15.05.2018
> 
> I have actually rewritten this chapter from it's original form on Wattpad, as I disliked the original setting of it a lot. You will find that in this first season, I will most likely put Kenan in the place of some of the cannon storyline to purpose her character development and the reasoning as to what becomes of her by the end of the season. 
> 
> Slight tweaks never hurt anybody!
> 
> -the writer.


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